Democratic U.S. House candidate ANN CALLIS is criticizing her Nov. 4 opponent, U.S. Rep. RODNEY DAVIS, R-Taylorville, because he hired a lobbyist to be his chief of staff in Washington.

“As a tough judge and reformer, Ann Callis is pledging not to hire a lobbyist to work in her office, period,” says a statement from the Callis campaign calling for “an end to generous congressional perks” and presenting ways to “decrease the influence of lobbyists and special interests.”

The Davis-Callis race in the 13th Congressional District, which includes part of Springfield, is one of those go-either-way contests that is being watched nationwide.

Davis' $145,000-a-year chief of staff is JEN DAULBY who, according to OpenSecrets.org, the website of the Center for Responsive Politics, was director of federal government affairs for Land O'Lakes from 2009 to 2013, lobbyist for Monsanto Co. from 2006 to 2009, and had worked in 2002 and 2003 as a legislative assistant to U.S. Rep. JOHN SHIMKUS, R-Collinsvillle, before joining staffs of the House Agriculture Committee and an Ohio congressman. Davis knows Daulby from his time working for Shimkus, Davis spokesman Andrew Flach said. Davis spent 16 years on Shimkus' staff.

Flach also noted that Daulby is a native of Du Quoin in southern Illinois.

“She's worked her way up to where she is,” Flach said. “She's got a ton of experience on the Hill and in the private sector.”

A June 23 story on the website of the Star Tribune in Minneapolis noted that Minnesota-based food companies including Land O'Lakes donated to the School Nutrition Association, which has been pushing to allow school districts to get waivers from certain school lunch requirements.

Davis has also been pushing legislation — not yet through the House — to allow such waivers. He has said the federal guidelines have been forcing districts to serve certain foods that students don't like, causing waste. He said that has led some students to drop out of the school lunch program and make less healthy choices. He also said some districts have considered dropping out of the program because of the waste.

Davis has said he wants to give districts “flexibility to continue to serve nutritious foods” that may not comply with new federal guidelines.

The School Nutrition Association “is now pitted against more than 200 health organizations such as the American Heart Association and the American Medical Association, which support keeping the requirements intact,” according to the Star Tribune story.

“Jen Daulby's hiring had no influence on Rodney's stance on changes to the school lunch program,” Flach said. “His stance came from talking to area school districts, like Monticello, Illinois, who were struggling over these onerous rules and regulations.”

Page 2 of 3 - Callis campaign manager MARSHALL COHEN passed on a statement from Callis on the lunch program: “While some in Congress have made attacks on the school nutrition program, I think it is a huge mistake to roll back the progress nutrition programs have had over the last few years. We need to support the success of the nutritious school lunch programs and continue to improve the health of children across the country. I will go to Congress and work with scientists, public health officials, and nutrition leaders to find solutions to this growing problem.”

Callis' statement on the issue of congressional pay said in part that “equal pay for equal work is still not reality for too many women.” Cohen said even as Callis would work to cut congressional pay, she would give 10 percent of her salary to the federal treasury for debt reduction.

“It's a bit ironic,” Flach said, “that our opponent talks about equal pay for equal work while at the same time criticizing Representative Davis for hiring a female chief of staff.” He also said that during Callis' 18 years as a circuit judge, her pay increased almost every year, and her final annual salary topped $181,000.

“We are not saying anything bad about his staff people,” Cohen responded, “and we certainly hope she gets paid the same as her male counterparts.” But he said not having a lobbyist on a Callis staff will let “families in Illinois know that her office is only looking out for their best interest.”

Among other points, Callis said there should be no taxpayer-funded subsidies for the gym and beauty salon for members of Congress.

Flach said the House barbershop was privatized in 1995. Flach also noted that House members pay a yearly fee to use the gym. He added that Davis is among members who don't have outside housing in Washington. Davis sleeps on a couch in his office at Longworth House Office Building, Flach said, and the gym facility is his only access to a shower.

Cohen said the gym gets taxpayer subsidy help, so “members pay less than the going rate for the service.”

Documents available

Less than a week after it became a public issue that the state Senate seemed to be holding back some documents similar to those the House released, things are getting evened up.

In an email this week, ERIC MADIAR, Freedom of Information officer for the Senate and chief legal counsel to Senate President JOHN CULLERTON, D-Chicago, told a consultant that thousands of pages of documents requested about state Sen. MIKE FRERICHS, D-Champaign, were now available.

KEVIN WRIGHT, the consultant working for the state treasurer campaign of state Rep. TOM CROSS, R-Oswego, had requested various documents, including those detailing Senate district office expenses for Frerichs, the Democratic candidate for treasurer.

Page 3 of 3 - While Madiar earlier asked Wright to narrow the request, the new letter specified how Wright, of Old Dominion Research Group in Alexandria, Virginia, could get the more than 2,900 pages.

I wrote last week that the House released hundreds of pages detailing similar information about Cross after they were sought by people including ZACH KOUTSKY, campaign manager for Frerichs.

The Illinois Republican Party has spotlighted the issue, with a statement Wednesday from state GOP Chairman TIM SCHNEIDER saying, “It shouldn't be like pulling teeth just to get the Democrats to follow their own laws on transparency and good government.”

Madiar seemed to note how this was made into a political controversy in his email to Wright. He wrote that his office has processed many information requests “for Illinois residents and non-residents, such as your firm, over the years without incident and without claims of partisanship.” He said “cordial communications” with the requester usually take place to work out any problems, and, if there is a question about a response in the future, “please feel free to contact our office or me directly” as an “actual phone conversation” will help iron out details.

Meanwhile, glad to hear that Cross' parents are doing OK after a traffic accident Sunday in Chicago.

The Rev. THOMAS CROSS, 78, and RUTH CROSS, 76, marched with their son in the Pride Parade in Chicago. The parents then were in a cab back to their car when a hit-and-run vehicle struck the taxi head-on. Help was available quickly, and both parents were released within several hours from the hospital, said KEVIN ARTL, Cross' campaign manager. Other than some bruising, Cross' father was not seriously hurt, but Ruth Cross, who saw the car coming and assumed a crash position, ended up with a gash in her head that required stitches and 10 staples.

The parade celebrates gay rights, and Cross was one of three House Republicans who voted to make gay marriage legal in Illinois. Thomas Cross, a Methodist minister, provided his son “a great deal of counsel on the bill,” Artl said.

Frerichs co-sponsored the marriage equality bill and also marched in the Chicago Pride Parade.